Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-07-30
DRIFT.


show me Q mans library, end will tsl
you what kind ol man hs n Thsso n NJ
quicker asd NO eufss way Of rsading Z
man's character, then slmply 70 ssad The
I don't know whether that he's besn
said BY any one else before or not MOI
does n make much difference /; u u trus
anyhow.
Nor IL II true only In tho very lin tied
sense that you can tsll mans profession ol
ocoupation IN life from the general oharacess
Of the books In his library. This . fact %
patent and evident 10 every one that IL
statemeut would 10 mere xuism. II 1 70
Into library end - 10 10 b made up Of
shelf upon shelf OF calf bound oclavos with
blsck and red titlslabels, Of course know
that its owner 10 . lawyer, just - surely -
when no,ics the theological or medical com.
plexion Of another I conclude the owner 70
10 minister or doctor. The 10 formation
thus given ne however, II not what l mean.
II stands 10 reason that from the red, yei.
ow, black, or white complexion Of man
| can tell what rsC0 he belongs to But that
dossn't tell me very much - 70 his ipdi.
| vldual charsctsr, - 70 whether he II COARSE
or . refined, learned OF On ignorant, good
or bad Indian, Negro, Mongolian, or eau.
casian. 10 the general complexion Of .
library, while, of courso, II Informs me Of the
profession Of IL owner, dooo mot In itself
| suffice to reveal 10 me whether he 10 o good
or an indifferent lawyer, doctor, artist mer.
chant or minister, nor even 70 what party,
school, or denomination he bolonGA For
this more DEFINITE knowledge ! must have
opportunity Of st least reading the titles Of
the various booka
II this be granted me, then, In i've min.
utea, will discover, ny in the case OF the
physicians library, nrst whether he be allo-
pathic homeopathic, electropathic, hydro
psthic, or eclectic. Or In the case OF the
clergyman, whether he be Catholic or Protest.
ant Lutheran, Calvinist, or EpisoOpaltan,
10 what sect or denomination he belongs and
finally 70 Whist wing, party, or school Of the
denomination. This 10 gathered at glance
But It still IL only kind of formal knowl.
edge, and gives but little Information - 70
the mans own individually. To nnd this
must inquire little more CLOSELY.
arrangement OF the booka For 1 know that
ranged on their shelves 20 are their
subjects and contents arranged In the
owners mind. II there is NO intel.
ligent order, II the volumes are simply
piled upon the shelves In Q miscellaneous,
haphazard, style, then an pretty sure that
there u just - little logical order and rels.
tion between !acts, principles, and sub
jects in the mans mind. He In like his II
brary, . kind Of miscellaneous dumping
place for the reception OF any and all man.
ner Of knowledge. The knowledge 10 there,
but II 10 never "st hand. " II 10 mixed up.
The facts wanted at any time, like the books.
first have to be hunted up, at the expense Of
much time and labor. They are seldom
available when needed. More than half
their worth and usefulness In thus lost
On the other hand, II l SO the library
divided into departments, oil the works on
anatomy, general and special, placed TO-
gother In Systematic order, oil those on
ssIy. msssria medics, &c, ! IL feel I safe IN con- %
Guiding that that doctor In clear In his own
mind q 20 the logical and natural relations
in which those departments Of science
OF methOditAl habits In his thought and
prsctica In short he Ii in % far, . scientific
doctor, while tho presumption 10 that the
other u . mere empiricist.
In the next place, II the library 10 any.
thing like considerable one, look 70 see
whether II IL dead or alive that ID, whether
It 10 thing merely mechanically constructed,
or whether 1t IL an organic growth. Ac-
cording ~ hnd It In this respect will also
he its owners mind. Increase OF size from
year To year 10 not by any means the only or
chief indication. A wood pile may be in
tree. Yet the latter IL living, organic, |
growth, while the former. however bulky,
remains mere accumulation OF dead sticks. |
The library OF the growing, expanding, pro.
gressivs man il the index OF his spiritual |
development. Each department Of It. like
the main boughs OF every healthy tree, pats
forth from year TO year new branches and
twigs, hss added To 1t new books, not for the |
additions sake, nor for tho ssks OF their
newness only, but from the necessity put |
upon II by the growth OF knowledge In that |
department. This growth II clearly marked
on the library shelves Book follows book
In natural, necessary order and succession
not disconnectedly or at haphszard. ! ses
from II the order and degree OF growth OF
the owners mind. l learn that starting from
'eear the surface OF . subject, 1t has pene.
tsatsd deeper down into the fundamental
principles, on the one hand, and stretched
out further and further, from year to year, TO
comprehend oil that directly or indirectly
pertains and 10 related to II Such library
makes me acquainted with one who keeps
true senRe OF the term.
There are many signs to be seen In II.
brsry still further indicative OF the mans
self II 20 into . minister's study, for OF.
ample, and SEQ nothing but commentaries
and hOmilitical literature, judge him to be
In % far specialist ono who studies only or
mainly for the immediate uses OF bis pro.
fession, and moreover studies only Q limited
set OF subjects, only partially, only . few Of
the sources useful to his special work -
theolOgian and preacher. II yet his books
are all denominStiOnai, or oil the work Of
one school Of theology; then conclude that
their Possessor 70 warped In bis judgment,
prejudioed, and lacking breadth anu iiberality
even - theolOgian; and also that he II
neither an independent nor an original
thinker and student OF the truth. My In
ference 10 just the opposite, however, when l
zee on bis shelves, with tue writings OF the
Church Fathers, and Church Histories. the
bsst commentaries, and sermons OF repre-.
sentative preachers OF the day of oil dsnomi-
nations, also the works of the great phil.
osophers and moralists of oil times and Of oil
schools, and those calculating the prtnci pies
at least OF the physical scienOes My opin-
lon u raised still higher II the department OF
history 10 we'll represented, and II the works
Of the worlds great ssssyists novslists and
poets are present These inform me OF the
depth and breadth OF the man's general cul.
ture the quality OF bis mind, and whether